309th Maintenance Wing
|type=Equipment Support |size= |command_structure=Air Force Materiel Command |current_commander= |garrison= |battles= |decorations=Air Force Outstanding Unit Award }} The 309th Maintenance Wing is an inactive wing of the United States Air Force last based at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. On July 12, 2012 it was inactivated and its function became part of the newly formed Ogden Air Logistics Complex. History World War II The wing was first activated in the early expansion of the Army Air Forces during World War II as the 309th Bombardment Group at Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona. Its initial components were the 376th, 377th,Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 466 and 378th Bombardment Squadrons,Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 467 and the 37th Reconnaissance Squadron.Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 522-523 The group was an Operational Training Unit (OTU), which trained bombardment groups until January 1943.Abstract, History 309th Bomb Group (accessed Oct 19, 2012) The OTU program involved the use of an oversized parent unit to provide cadres to "satellite groups." It then became a Replacement Training Unit and trained replacement aircrews, using B-25 Mitchell aircraft in both training programs. In addition, the group operated specialist training schools, with as many as eight in operation at once. However, the AAF was finding that standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were proving less well adapted to performing the mission. Accordingly a more functional system was adopted in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit.Craven & Cate, p. 75 As a result, in 1944, the group was disbanded and replaced by the 329th Army Air Force Base Unit (Replacement Training Unit, Medium, Bombardment), which absorbed the mission, material, and personnel of the group.Abstract, History of Columbia AAB. Apr-Jun 1944 (accessed Oct 19, 2012) The group's four squadrons became Sections A through D of the Base Unit. Reserve Airlift Operations Postwar the group was reconstituted and redesignated as the Continental Air Command reserve 309th Troop Carrier Group. The 309th used the aircraft of the active duty 314th Troop Carrier Wing, to which it was attached for training.AFHRA Factsheet, 309th Maintenance Wing (accessed Oct 19, 2012) The group was transferred to Tactical Air Command in 1950, after which it apparently ceased flying operations. It was inactivated in 1951 and its personnel deployed to Far East Air Forces to support 315th Air Division transport units during the Korean War. Assault Airlift Operations The unit was reactivated at Ardmore AFB in 1955. It replaced the 16th Troop Carrier Squadron, which was flying the Air Force's fleet of YC-122 Avitrucs. The group became the first fixed wing assault airlift group in the Air Force and was the first to fly the C-123B.Oklahoma Historical Marker, Ardmore AFB (accessed Oct 19, 2012) The 309th trained to airlift troops, equipment, and supplies for assault landings. After training with the 463d Troop Carrier Wing, the group deployed to Europe. Less than a year later, the group was inactivated and its squadrons transferred to the 60th Troop Carrier Wing. Maintenance Wing The wing remained inactive until Air Force Material Command (AFMC) replaced many of its traditional subordinate command staff agencies with wings, groups, and squadrons in the Air Force Material Command Transformation Initiative. The 309th became the 309th Maintenance Wing and provided depot repair, modification and maintenance for the F-22A Raptor, F-16 Fighting Falcon, A-10 Thunderbolt, C-130 Hercules, and the Peacekeeper and Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles.Hill AFB Factsheet, 309th Maintenance Wing (accessed Oct 19, 2012) In 2012, AFMC reversed this action in the process of reducing its number of centers and inactivated the wing.309 MXW to Inactivate; Members to be Part of OO-Air Logistics Complex, Hilltop Times, June 7, 2012 (accessed Oct 19, 2012) Lineage * Constituted as 309th Bombardment Group (Medium) on 28 January 1942 : Activated on 15 March 1942 : Disbanded on 1 May 1944 * Reconstituted, redesignated 309th Troop Carrier Group, Medium and allotted to the reserve, on 16 May 1949. : Activated on 26 June 1949 : Inactivated on 20 February 1951. * Redesignated 309th Troop Carrier Group, Assault, Fixed Wing on 14 April 1955 : Activated on 8 July 1955Lineage information through 1955 is in Maurer, Combat Units, p. 184 : Inactivated on 12 March 1957 * Redesignated 309th Tactical Airlift Group on 31 July 1985 (remained inactive) * Redesignated 309th Maintenance Wing on 31 January 2005 : Activated on 18 February 2005 : Inactivated on 12 July 2012 Assignments * Third Air Force, 28 January 1942 – 1 May 1944 * Fourteenth Air Force, 26 June 1949 (attached to 314th Troop Carrier Wing) * Tactical Air Command, 1 August 1950 – 20 February 1951 * Eighteenth Air Force, 8 July 1955 (attached to 463d Troop Carrier Wing), 8 July 1955 - 21 May 1956) * 322d Air Division, 2 June 1956 - 12 March 1957 (Attached to 60th Troop Carrier Wing) * 60th Troop Carrier Wing, 7 August 1956 – 20 April 1958 * Ogden Air Logistics Center, 24 February 2005 - 12 July 2012 Components Groups * 309th Commodities Maintenance Group, 24 February 2005 - 12 July 2012 * 309th Electronics Maintenance Group, 24 February 2005 - 12 July 2012 * 309th Maintenance & Supply Group (later 309th Aircraft Maintenance Group), 26 June 1949 - 20 February 1951 (attached); 24 February 2005 - 12 July 2012 * 309th Maintenance Support Group, 24 February 2005 - 12 July 2012 * 309th Missile Maintenance Group, 24 February 2005 - 12 July 2012 * 309th Software Maintenance Group, 24 February 2005 - 12 July 2012 * 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, 2 May 2007 - 12 July 2012 Squadrons * 37th Reconnaissance Squadron (later 426th Bombardment Squadron): 15 March 1942 –1 May 1944 * 376th Bombardment Squadron (later 376th Troop Carrier Squadron): 15 March 1942 –1 May 1944; 26 June 1949 – 20 February 1951; 8 July 1955 – 12 March 1957 * 377th Bombardment Squadron (later 377th Troop Carrier Squadron): 15 March 1942 –1 May 1944; 26 June 1949 – 28 January 1950; 8 July 1955 – 12 March 1957 * 378th Bombardment Squadron (later 378th Troop Carrier Squadron): 15 March 1942 –1 May 1944; 8 July 1955 – 12 March 1957 Stations * Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona, 15 March 1942 * Jackson Army Air Base, Mississippi, 15 March 1942 * Key Field, Mississippi, c. 26 April 1942 * Columbia Army Air Base, South Carolina, 16 May 1942 – 1 May 1944 * Sewart Air Force Base, Tennessee, 26 June 1949 – 20 February 1951 * Ardmore Air Force Base, Oklahoma, 8 July 1955 * Dreux Air Base, France, 22 March 1956 – 20 April 1958 * Hill Air Force Base, Utah 24 February 2005 – 12 July 2012 Aircraft * B-25 Mitchell, 1942–1944 * C-47 Skytrain, 1949-1950 * C-82 Packet, 1949–1950 * C-119 Flying Boxcar, 1949–1950 * C-122 Avitruc, 1955–1956 * C-123 Provider, 1955–1958 Decorations and Awards * Air Force Outstanding Unit Award * 1 January 2004 - 31 December 2005 * 1 January 2009 - 31 December 2009Air Force Unit Awards (accessed 19 Oct, 2012) * 1 January 2011 - 27 May 2011 (staff agencies) * * American Theater Notes and references External links *Hill AFB Home Page Category:Military units and formations of the United States in World War II Category:Military units and formations established in 1942 Category:Military units and formations in Utah Category:Maintenance wings of the United States Air Force